Winch and strap questions?
 

Is my winch correctly mounted? Are these the correct straps and tie down for my boat?

its tough to tell in the pictures. Try some shots during daylight hours and i'm sure we'll be able to help.

I would remove the galvanized shackle

Shackle is for pulling a tube. Only have shackle in place when using the tube?

The winch seems to be at too great an angle to me. I was told I should have straps aross the gunnales from side tio side. We used to have a strap there, be we started seeing a lot of gel coat cracking in the area of the strap.

Hard to tell because winch strap isn't tight in last picture, but if strap is pulling up or horizontal and not down you're ok. I use a PowerWinch with a double cable and pulley on the hook for plenty of capacity. If you'll switch the rollers on the bow stop to yellow urethane, you'll eliminate the black marks on the hull.

Looks like an EZ-Loader roller trailer? If so they're a great trailer, but there is one thing you need to be careful of . . . there is so little friction in that roller system that it's very important to use the safety chain on the bow and not depend on the winch brake to keep it from rolling off the trailer! I also use a VERTICAL ratchet strap on the bow eye to prevent it from riding up on the winch stand rollers if I have to make a hard stop! Your stern straps will not prevent it from rolling forward. I prefer a strap that wraps over the gunnel at the stern.

One suggestion on your roller alignment . . . spread all the rollers as far apart as possible, and then move the racks outboard until the outer rollers are just outboard of the outer step. That way, the outer rollers will guide boat on trailer. Before I did that, I found that the roller system has so many degrees of freedom that if boat was laterally unbalanced/heeled to one side at the dock, it would come on the trailer the same way! Once you move the rollers outboard, boat will come on trailer perfectly straight every time regardless of cross winds and/or current! Move winch stand forward until aft rollers are right under transom. I also added keel rollers on front and back side of aft X-member because the SeaCraft hull is so deep up forward that keel will hit X-member before the aft rack of rollers contact the hull. You may have to dunk that tandem a bit more than I do (I don't even get the rims wet . . . I just back it in till the tires are wet and aft keel rollers are an inch or two below bow eye. This trailer has been used for 30 years in salt water with original springs and axle still in great shape since they are never dunked. Had to replace aft X-member a couple years ago because thats all that ever gets wet!)

I love this forum. Tons of great advise. Normally the chain is kept tight. I will be looking into the yellow rollers. I get black marks down the hull from the rollers when loading the boat. Once the boat is centered, the rollers do guide it on the trailer. If the boat isn't centered, pull her back & try again.

NO !

transom tie down straps are not the way to go !

you need a real ratchet strap,one side of the trailer,over the boat,to the other side of the trailer.click it down snug and you're all ready to go. twist both sides once,this keeps the strap from flapping.

strapping the boat down,in this manner,this holds the boat to the trailer.those cheap low quality transom straps pop .

take a long look at the picture - that's the end result of properly securing the boat.

over the years,being in the marine repair biz,i've picked up quite a few boats,off the street - including one,NEW as in NEW 21 parker. "mis haps" with their trailer - EVERY ONE had a common thing : CHEAP TRANSOM STRAPS !

a real safety chain on the bow,and a real ratchet strap ran in the manner I've described.


roller trailers are self centering - if you're having a problem,try this - do not get the wheels wet - back up till the water is on the trailer tires.if the trailer is too far in the water,this can cause your problem.

urethane rollers are the way to go !

This outfit has good deals on trailer parts! I changed to the urethane rollers after painting the bottom to eliminate black marks. The black ones seem to oxidize and leave marks even if you try to clean 'em!

If you install a couple keel rollers on that aft X-member, that will keep boat centered until the outer rollers lock on to the outer step. I tried just using just one roller back there, but discovered that the aft cross member tilts so much during launch/retrieve that keel would scrape on front edge of X-member or the mounting straps, so you really need a front and back roller.

I agree with Bushwacker's advise. I also agree with pelican's comment on a winch style strap and binder over the boat. We haul heavy machinery on a flatbed trailer. You really have to be prepared to know that the boat is unitized to the trailer for unintentional jack knife or off road situations. It's an unsafe load otherwise. We also like the vertical strap on the bow. The "safety" chain won't keep the bow on the trailer in a worse case scenario, which is what we are really concerned about.

Wow, ya sold us on 2 straps over the boat. Got the bow rollers changed. Are the support rollers under the boat in the proper positions? They get replaced next. Can I safely use a floor jack to lift the boat to replace the rollers?

I use a ss turnbuckle on the bow eye. I do worry that it is overstressing the bow eye, but a loose chain wont do much.

I see that's not an EZ Loader Trailer, so your roller supports are a little different than mine, although generally similar. (See pics below.) Looks like you just have a single bar at each roller location so your distance between inner and outer rollers is more limited. I have separate bars for the inner and outer rollers, so I extended them as far out as they will go. On the front bank of rollers, the distance between inner and outer rollers is about 18''. On the aft bank, the spread is about 23".

I would definitely add a pair of keel rollers to your aft X-member, which will center the boat when you first start loading. To get the outer rollers just outboard of the outer step and get the automatic alignment benefits that provides, you'll have to move the the entire rack of rollers outboard. That will lower the entire boat on the trailer, which is probably a good thing, IF you have enough clearance above the fenders! If clearance is tight, you could just move the front racks, but then only the front of the boat would drop down so that might make it harder to unload. (I assume your X-members pivot on the bolts attaching them to the trailer frame like mine do, which allows the entire rack or rollers to tilt as you load/unload the boat.)

I've just used a bottle jack on the frame and a 2x4 under the chine to lift one side of my boat, but I forgot yours is a 23, so much heavier than my 20! I've also used a floor jack with a wood block under the keel and that would probably be better, or maybe you could use a combination of the two.

That looks like a nice power winch! Will it pull your boat all the way up the trailer or do you dunk most of the trailer first? I prefer a cable to a winch strap because they will fail gracefully (1 strand at a time) because I've seen straps rip completely apart due to UV exposure, so I'd make sure it's in good shape. On advantage of a strap over a cable is that you don't lose nearly as much mechanical advantage due to drum getting bigger as you wind it in! Denny

I purchased 2-2" ratchet straps as suggested. I saw a person towing a 25' Trophy with no straps. Must not like his boat. Made what little hair I have stand on end. I pulled over to get a soda and let him get WAY dfown the road.

"I saw a person towing a 25' Trophy with no straps. Must not like his boat"

You mean a Bayliner Trophy?? DUH......maybe he's never been on a SeaCraft!